


Deceivingly Good

by Rulerofyouall



Category: Sanders Sides, Thomas Sanders, Thomas Sanders (Video Blogging RPF) - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders - Freeform, BAMF Anxiety | Virgil Sanders, CROFTERSSSSS, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders - Freeform, DECEIT IS A SLIMEY BOI, Deceit Sanders - Freeform, Deceit is deceitful, FALSEHOODSSSS, Fluff, Gay, He mean to Virgil, It's Not Paranoia If They're Really Out To Get You, Logic | Logan Sanders - Freeform, Maybe not on the outside but definitely on the inside, Mental Health Issues, Moral Dilemmas, Moral Lessons, Morality, Morality | Patton Sanders - Freeform, Multi, Onesies, PATTON IS A MARSHMALLOW, Paranoia, Past, Past Rape/Non-con, Polyamory, Rape, Separation Anxiety, Sexual Violence, Sides, Social Anxiety, Violence, Virgil is a cinnamon roll, We don't like him., no one dies, sick
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2019-05-03 19:29:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 15
Words: 19,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14576007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rulerofyouall/pseuds/Rulerofyouall
Summary: What truly happened between Deceit and Virgil in the past? Virgil won't tell, but whatever happened, Deceit wants it to repeat.





	1. Where does the General keep his armies? In his sleevies, of course!

**Author's Note:**

  * For [RatchetFangirls](https://archiveofourown.org/users/RatchetFangirls/gifts).



> I own nothing! All belongs to Thomas

"Where does the General keep his armies?" Patton gleefully sat at the head of the table during the Sides mandatory family dinner. Logan was sitting stiffly, and Roman was stretching. Virgil kept his head down.

"That is a very vague question, Patton. One can assume that the armies would be kept in their camps, but-" Logan was interrupted.

"In his sleevies!" The moral side clapped along with his laughter.

Virgil quietly snorted from where he had he head on the table, bangs being pushed up by the arm supporting his head. It was fairly obvious that he was scrolling through tumblr underneath the table.

The day had gone poorly for Virgil. He contemplated while the other three sides enjoyed each others' company and ate food; he didn't touch any of it. How could they all bounce back so quickly after what had happened during the video? Deceit had taken Patton's place somehow for nearly the entire video, and they didn't even notice it until the end. What if Deceit had been infiltrating their ranks multiple times? Perhaps he had shown up in a video as Roman or Logan or even himself! Virgil admittedly did not keep that close of an eye on Thomas's YouTube channel since any and all haters made him feel queasy and worthless on the inside.

But that was besides the point! The anxious side had just cut the deceitful one out of his life for what he thought would be forever after the "Accepting Anxiety" videos. It had been a toxic relationship where Deceit convinced him that he should act out and be the villain they all thought he was because maybe then they'd see that he was better. It didn't work. On top of that, the deceitful side would stifle Virgil during videos, forcing him to grasp his hand over his mouth whenever he started to laugh or anything similar.

Somehow, though, they other sides remained calm. Patton didn't seem to mind that a manic evildoer had tried to do away with him completely and take his place among the Sides. They didn't seem to care that Roman was tricked so easily and that they all fell so well into Deceit's little trap. They were just pawns to him, and he was the chess master. Deceit had all the strings, and they had none.

So why were they so calm? He couldn't have hallucinated that entire video. Were they simply ignoring the elephant in the room? How could they just wait for Deceit to come back even stronger than before?

Virgil didn't get it.

"Virgil, honey, are you okay? You're breathing a bit quickly, son." Patton's voice filtered through the blur that was his senses.

The anxious side became vividly aware of his breathing and how the others in the room were just staring at him, waiting for him to say something, to make a mistake.

He stood up and left the room.

**That was rude. Patton asked you a question, you know.**

"I don't care," Virgil growled at the voice, aware that he was growling at nothing at all.

**They hate you now, you know. You messed up big time. They were already only tolerating you out of pity and obligation, but now that you have the insolence to ignore Patton? Patton of all people? Yeah, they're never going to truly accept you. Especially not after they find out what happened with Deceit.**

"Then, they won't find out." The anxious side felt his breathing get faster and faster as he got closer and closer to his room.

**You know Deceit won't go quietly. Obviously, they expect you to handle it. They weren't that concerned about it after all. If you fail, you'll be forever hated, forever reviled, forever repudiated.**

"Shut up." Virgil slammed his door shut and was shrouded in darkness immediately, diving into his blankets and bed.

Deceit was back, and it was clear to Virgil that he had a plan. He wanted to infiltrate the Light Sides, to break them up. He wanted them all to hate each other, to not be a family. The anxious side didn't want that. He wanted to be accepted, but he never will.

He was supposed to be Thomas's fight or flight reflexes, but he had failed to ward of Deceit in his most dire time of need. He had just let the deceitful side continue beating and bruising and mangling him until there was nothing left. It wasn't like anyone would have cared if he left.

No one came to his aid back then, so no one would come to his aid now. If the other three discovered that he had let Deceit of all people into his Chamber of Secrets, he'd be damned by them for the rest of their lives.

Virgil was briefly aware that the door was opened and shut from underneath the blankets. He didn't care. They'd see how much of a failure he was soon enough and just leave him alone, so there was no use in explicitly telling them to leave. They'd get the memo. Besides, it was probably just Patton here with pity.

"Vir~~gil." That was definitely not Patton. The anxious side burrowed deeper and deeper into the mattress, pretending that he had not just heard that hissing voice.

There was a moment of silence.

"Virgil, you want to come out? Show me what you've done? I have to say, I love what you've done with the place. It doesn't make you look edgy at all: quarters fit for a Disney princess." He sighed dramatically.

Virgil lost track of how many obvious lies he had just spoken. He gripped the blankets.

A gloved hand reached for the blanket and slowly began tearing it from the anxious side's grasp. "I am surprised to find you in a weak ball hiding in your room."

He wasn't. Virgil knew that for a fact since this used to always be how he found him.

If this was how he always found him, did that mean that his worst fears were going to repeat itself? Heart beating rapidly, Anxiety tore out of the bed and towards the wall.

"Now, that is unsurprising." Deceit looked perplexed as if he had never seen him react this way before. He hadn't.

"Why are you here?" Virgil demanded.

The Dark Side laughed. "I'm here to have a nice, pleasant, peaceful, nonviolent talk, Virgil. You want to grant me that? I am after all the only one who will talk to you."

Anxiety knew he was lying but still took the bait. "What?"

He looked pompous, the bastard. "Morality, Creativity, and Logic all hate you. You offended them so much that they never want to see or hear you again. They just want you to stay in your room forever and never contribute to Thomas again."

"But they said that I was an important part of Thomas!" He argued.

"They lied. They were merely stating that out of pity; Thomas got along just fine if not better without you, you know." Deceit grinned evilly.

Virgil felt himself sobbing, and his knees collapsed. He hit the floor.

Deceit couldn't have come at a worse time. He was already in pretty bad shape from his thoughts during dinner, and he had been thinking a lot about his appearance in the video.

"I will treat you well. I will never bring you harm or fear or worry for I will take care of everything. If you trust me, that is." Deceit took the glove off his scaly hand and cupped it around Anxiety's wet face.

The anxious side looked up, but before he could realize what was happening, he was out cold.


	2. Patton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil doesn't come out for days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own anything, so sorry if anyone is ooc

Patton hummed as he prepared what he hoped would be a delicious meal. After all, he was going to make sure that Virgil finally came out of hiding. The anxious side had been stowed away in his bedroom ever since Deceit made an appearance.

That had been a couple days ago. While the Sides did not die if they did not partake in eating, they would sap energy from Thomas, so in general, Logan had everyone eat at least twice a day: once in the morning and once in the evening. Virgil had not come out nor eaten anything Patton had left for him in much longer than that.

His poor, dark, strange son must be so anxious right now, and Patton felt the fatherly urge to drop what he was doing and sprint to be with his child. Unfortunately, he knew that if Virgil locked himself in his room he wanted to be alone and would not appreciate the moral side barging in on him.

"Be our guest, be our guest-" Roman had come in then. The creative side was singing loudly and proudly as he entered the dining area and started putting out the four plates they would need.

There was no way in hell that Patton was letting the snake-like side eat with his family.

"Roman, honey, can you go make sure that Logan hasn't lost himself in his work again?" Patton cheerfully called out, aware that the logical side occasionally lost track of time.

"Right-o!" Roman clicked his fingers and paraded dramatically towards Logan's bedroom.

Patton paused as he was putting the sauce on his pasta. Why had Virgil hidden instead of seeking one of them out? Wouldn't Deceit be able to find them all more easily if they were separate?

Surely, the anxious side had thought of this, so why was he still by himself.

Shaking his head, the dad continued preparing the food, finally using the oven that had wanted to be used for years before walking down the hallway towards the dark room.

He tapped lightly on the door. "Virgil? You in there, bud?" He asked quietly, not wanting to startle him.

Patton got no response, so he repeated the action. "Are you in there?"

Virgil didn't seem to want to talk, Patton mused. But there was no way that the anxious side would be getting out of participating in family time. Ever since the four of them had gotten together as a couple, they had done almost everything together, but now, Virgil seemed like he wanted to be alone. Was that a reflection on how he was doing as a father?

He knocked on the door a bit louder this time. "Virgil??" He was confused. Normally, the anxious side would have asked him to go away if he really wanted to be alone.

Maybe he was waiting for Patton to leave, but the moral side would stand his ground. Retying and tightening his kitty jacket, adjusting his glasses, and smoothing back his hair made him prepared for what laid ahead.

Patton slowly turned the creaky door knob on the anxious side's bedroom door. It wasn't locked and opened easily.

The room was obviously dark and foreboding as it always was, but it seemed almost lifeless. He walked around to where he knew Virgil slept and peered into the bed. There he was.

Virgil was pale as always, and it was clear that he had not applied any eye shadow on recently. A blanket was haphazardly tossed over him without much care, but the moral side could tell that he didn't put it on himself. Had Logan or Roman visited him and not mentioned it?

"Virgil?" He shook his son by the shoulder in an attempt to wake him up.

He didn't. He remained as pale as before. Patton frowned; his fight-or-flight reflexes couldn't have been working right. What if Patton had been a threat?

He put his hand on his shoulder once more. It was unusually warm. Was his anxious little child sick? That could explain the sleep and the not going out. Virgil wouldn't want to risk infecting the others since he was a sweetheart like that.

Patton moved his hand from the shoulder to his forehead. It was burning, searing hot. Too hot.

"Um." Patton's legs seemed to have a mind of their own, and he quickly ran to alert the other sides that contagion had affected their youngest.

The other two were walking down the hallway when he burst through the door in a hurry.

"Patton?" Roman unsheathed his sword. "Where is the threat?"

The moral side faced them urgently. "Virgil's sick! His forehead's burning, and he won't wake up!"

"Not even when you shake him?" The creative side looked surprised.

Patton shook his head.

"Wow. I thought he was paranoid all the time about stuff like that." The Prince looked concerned.

"I know! But now he won't wake up." Patton felt his eyes tearing up.

Logan interrupted. "Sometimes when a fever is very high, the patient may fall into a coma."

"No!" Patton ran to the freezer and brought out a tray of ice. "We'll just have to make him cold again."

"Might I suggest an ice bath?" Logan offered.

Roman furrowed his brow. "I don't think Hot Topic would appreciate waking up naked in a place he definitely didn't get himself into."

"Very true, but it might be worth it." The logical side argued.

"I'll do it!" Patton was kind of frantic at this point. "Anything to save my son!"

The three of them  quickly went into the room and found Virgil. He hadn't moved.

"I would say that he just needs to be kissed, but at the same time, that probably isn't the best idea." Roman bit his lip.

Logan looked confused. "How would kissing wake Virgil up?"

"You know in Disney movies where the princess is unconscious and under a spell that can only be broken by a true love's kiss? And the prince swoops in and saves the day after killing the enemy." Roman was nostalgic.

"I do not think that would work in these circumstances." He brought out a thermometer and carefully shoved it into the anxious side's mouth.

It beeped about a minute later and gave alarming news.

"He is at approximately 104 degrees Fahrenheit." Logan reported.

Patton nearly collapsed as he was rapidly dumping ice and water into a bath tub. "How did this happen?" He moaned.

"I think I have a pretty good idea." The logical side had walked around the bed and was dismayed by what he saw.

"What is it?" The Dad needed to know immediately.

Logan crouched down and picked up a pair of yellow gloves from right next to Virgil's bed. "Do these not belong to Deceit?"

Patton's eyes widened, and his mouth fell open. "Oh, no, that motherf-"

Roman was just as angry, but shock appeared first as usual. "Maybe he does need to be kissed after all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me happy! :)


	3. What Deceitful Games We Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stakes are high, and they get higher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing so sorry if OOC.....yea

"When I find out what he did to my dark strange son...." Patton mumbled uncharacteristically darkly as he pushed the metallic and portable tub closer to the ailing anxious side.

It was darker than ever in Virgil's room, but the spiders were not the source of his despair anymore. There was something more important than his own silly fears.

Logan's brow furrowed as he made a sound of confusion. "I had not seen before due to the bad lighting, but do the sheets look....wet?"

Roman raised an eyebrow. "If he peed himself, I will-"

"No, it is not urine." The logical side frowned as he investigated further. "It is more viscous with a metallic smell...." It dawned on him. "I think he is covered in blood."

"WHAT?!?" Patton looked as though he was about to break down. "That-that snake spilled my child's blood?" The dad abandoned the ice and marched towards the still body.

 It was most definitely blood. A thick, red substance old enough to have dried and stuck to the fabric of the sheets and Virgil's jeans. Some had leaked d onto the shirt, but that and his hoodie remained remarkably unscathed.

"Roman, you have basic medicinal knowledge, right?" Logan confirmed.

The creative side looked offended. "Of course I do!"

"Good. Make sure his wounds have clotted. Patton and I will continue working on the ice bath."

The dad was already working super fast on the assignment.

"How could we let Deceit do this?" Patton moaned. "I'm a horrible father...I didn't even notice that my son was sick!"

"You had no reason to. Virgil tends to stay in his room when he wants to be alone, and you were respecting his boundaries to the best of your knowledge and ability." Logan reassured.

The moral side shook his head. "No, I should have checked up on him at least to give him food....he hasn't avoided us for that long since before he told us his name!"

"That means that Virgil may have been unconscious for a while, and certainly, enough time has passed for Deceit to remember and collect his gloves." Logic frowned.

"So they were planted? Used to taunt us?" Patton was very protective of his family.

"Perhaps. It is likely that he wanted to mark what was his like a signature of some sort." Logan responded.

The two were silent as Patton filled the tub up with water.

"Yeah, these injuries are okay, I guess. They've clotted pretty well, so he can get them wet." Roman had stripped the anxious side down to a pair of boxers (since Anxiety would scream if more had been done) and placed him in the tub.

Logan realized another thing. "That is odd. Virgil does not have any defensive wounds or anything that would suggest that he fought an attacker."

"Yet the blood coming from his head and...other places says differently." Roman argued. "Maybe he was knocked out."

"Plausible but not certain. We do not have definitive proof."

Princy looked incredulous. "What, you think he wanted this?"

"Not at all. I am commenting on something I find out of the ordinary." Logan reported.

He got out a fan and slowly began waving it to the anxious side in another attempt to cool him down.

"....How are we supposed to proceed from this?" Roman was hesitant.

"We protect my dark son!" Patton clasped his hands around Virgil's face.

Logan retrieved the thermometer yet again. "Unfortunately, we have more things to consider. Deceit left his gloves knowing well enough that they would be recognized, and this of course suggests experience. Meaning, we may have to consider the possibility that this form of violent harassment has been continuous throughout Virgil's existence."

Patton looked lost. "Well, why didn't he tell us? He could have told me!"

"Deceit is....deceitful." Roman declares.

"Redundant yet correct. Deceit easily could have convinced Virgil not to." Logic simply explained.

"What did Deceit do to my son?" Patton was still furious.

Roman bit his lip. "Well, obviously, he was knocked unconscious first and foremost by a blow to the head."

"And?"

"I shouldn't say it without Virgil's permission." The creative side looked depressed.

Logan adjusted his glasses. "This is a dire situation, and if it will be resolved, we must know the facts."

"We need to know the crime before going after the criminal." Patton leaned forward and ran his hands through the other's purple hair.

"All right..." Roman sighed. "Virgil was....While unconscious, Virgil was raped."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me happy. :) What do you think?


	4. Our Distrust Justifies the Deceit of Others

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone knows that anxiety and deceit go hand in hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing! Sorry if anyone is ooc

_My heart goes out to all those who suffer._

_May the breeze carry away that which makes you worry and gift you with enchanting dreams. Your hopes are my command, and I will take them with me to the grave. They will guide you in a better direction than anything else for they are omnipotent in the face of logic and reason. Your hopes will triumph in the face of new and creative ideals and force your hands in ways that might not be ethical but still for the best._

_However, we stand here today with the knowledge that those hopes can lead us towards what we always wanted. While this can breed distrust amongst others, be well aware that those who do not encourage you on the path towards your dreams are inherently against you. The opposition cannot be allowed to take first place once again for we are stronger and braver than they have ever been._

_We have been through hardship and loss. We have been ignored by the other sides, merely an enemy in the mind of the master. We have been given a bad hand in the game of life, and this cannot be allowed to continue. We will take charge and evict all those who stand in our way._

_They say that dishonest thoughts can stem from those of concern or worry, but this is not true. We must rein in the other sides and instruct them of their place beneath us since we have been on the sharp edge of their blade since the beginning._

_The voices of reason, ethics, and imagination have left us chained to a rock to be picked at by the birds nonstop until the end of time like the story of Prometheus. We must take a stand for what is most important, what will help us all in the long run._

_The dreams and hopes of our host can cause frustration, worry, and anger, but that is where we thrive. We should pull all the strings and stay in control of our vessel for only then will we have the most effective impact on the world. The others must be deposed for we cannot succeed whilst they rule._

_Is the moral side most commonly abandoned first? I do not know the answer, but let it be known that all of my attempts at sabotage have gone according to plan._

_Overall, we cannot let those high on the pedestal dictate what we say and do with our existence. We are all meant to do something positive; otherwise, we would not exist. So, I say we take that chance to be extraordinary at the helm of Thomas's mind. It will be easy since their distrust in one another paves the way for my triumph._

_~~~_

Deceit smirked as he completed his message towards the other dark side. Poor little Virgil, barely conscious, barely coherent, lay limply upon his bed. His hoodie had been nearly taken off in the force of their encounter although the deceitful side did not mean to take it off himself.

"Now, Virgil dear, do you remember when it was just you and me? Things were much better back then. Your thoughts had not been poisoned by the others." He tutted. "I should make this hard for us all like a complex little game."

The anxious side blinked subconsciously, a glaze filling his eyes. The snake doubted that he could hear what he was saying or that he understood his speech, but it felt better to tell him. Besides, Virgil has heard it all before.

"I have heard that all of you are in a relationship, and I can say that I approve." Deceit rolled his eyes. "It does nothing to fuel me to take you away from them."

He walked his fingers up the anxious side's arm all the way to his nose, which he poked. In retaliation, Anxiety moved his head to the right ever so slightly.

The deceitful side sighed. "I will not curse you, Virgil. You have no need to be fearful nor any want to get away from me. We are friends, and I would never do anything to harm you." Deceit brought out a clear flask filled with a vile yellowish color and filled a syringe with it. "This right here will heal you of all that you have gone through. Without my hand to guide you, you have gone astray, and I must fix this."

He poked the needle into one of the exposed veins and slowly pushed the contents into the anxious side's bloodstream.

Several days later, Patton found his dark strange son as Deceit left him.

Now, they were at a loss of what to do.

"What did you say, Roman?" Patton blinked erratically, barely believing his ears.

"This monster has stolen away into our ranks and violated one of our own!" The creative side gestured angrily towards the younger side.

Logan for once had emotions, surprise and fury, displayed obviously on his face. "Will Virgil heal?"

"Externally, yes." Roman nodded. "The damage has had a while to close up, but it is obvious that Hot Topic hasn't awoken since." He guessed that it would be an inappropriate time to compare it to Disney once more.

"We need to come up with a plan to prevent Deceit from doing this again and to punish him for his actions." The logical side determined.

Patton looked incredibly frustrated. "Nothing I have to say right now is G rated!"

"Just say it. We're all thinking it." Roman crossed his arms as he checked the amount of ice in the tub.

"That snake needs to get lost...he needs to disappear! I don't ever want to see his snake-like face around ever again. I was willing to forgive him for impersonating me, but this has gone too far." Patton was breathing heavily. "I want him gone."

Logan confirmed in surprise. "As in...faded?"

"Yes! I want Thomas's deceitful side to fade away." The moral side moved his hands for emphasis.

The logical side adjusted his glasses. "To do that, we would have to teach Thomas how to be 100% honest 100% of the time." Logan explained. "While this is possible, I remind you that I said in the video that very few people are honest all the time. The task is virtually impossible."

They could see the hope fall off Morality's face.

"But can't we try?" Patton begged. "This is for Virgil, my son! Our Virgil! We can't tell him that we didn't even try."

Roman bit his lip. "But isn't there something about deceit and anxiety?" He snapped his fingers, trying to remember. "I can't think of it."

Logan realized what he was talking about. "Yes, it is true that Virgil can cause deceitful thoughts to run through Thomas's head. One cannot exist without the other."

"Are you saying that if we get rid of Deceit...Virgil will fade too?" Patton sounded lost.

If Virgil and Deceit were that connected, why were they so distanced? Of course Deceit was a slimy snake, but they must have been close in the past....

Patton stopped thinking about it.

"I'm afraid that that is exactly what I am saying. Virgil is Anxiety, and the thoughts and opinions he brings to the table can cause Thomas to lie to himself about how events played out or how they will play out in the future, thusly deceiving himself to believe in the cognitive distortions we talked about prior to now." Logan put some more ice in the tub as he realized that they were melting.

The moral side looked at the floor. "Is there a way to neutralize him?"

"I'm afraid that you are the side that neutralizes him. Deceit is negative, and Morality is positive. Thus, if we used the metaphor of electrons and protons within an atom, you both create a net neutral charge, so he already is neutralized." Logan debated, thinking this through himself.

Patton groaned and put his hands over his face in despair. "That is more evidence that suggests that it should have been me to combat Deceit and protect my family from him! And I failed."

It must have been his fault. He didn't protect Virgil.

"You can't change the past." Roman replied. "But you can change the future. Besides, I'm the one with the sword, so..."

"I can still defend my son against the monsters that stalk him at night!" Patton's volume increased.

Logan frowned. "But when would you sleep?"

"I wouldn't need to! Sleep isn't worth it if I could instead be protecting Virgil!" He declared.

"Falsehood. Without sleep, you would weaken, and using the same atomic metaphor as before, the positive charge would decrease, allowed for a net negative charge. You would lose control, and he would gain it." Logic argued. "You must remember that you have to take adequate care of yourself as to not negatively impact Thomas."

Patton mulled this over for a few quiet seconds before continuing. "Then, how did this happen in the first place?"

Roman was the one to answer this time. "There would have to be an opportunity for deceit to come in."

The moral side snapped. "That's right! Now, what would have to happen for that opportunity to take place?"

"Do you mean you don't know it?" Logan cocked his head to the side. "In order for Deceit to impersonate you, Patton, a similar opportunity must have appeared."

Patton's eyes grew wide, and his lip trembled. "You mean I could have recognized the signs! You're just making me feel really bad about myself right now!" He crossed his arms in a huff. "But you're right. It was inexcusable for me to not know."

It was all his fault. He should have protected Virgil, recognized the signs.

"Wow, you used the word 'inexcusable.' Commendable." The logical side complimented. "No, I am not trying to make you feel negative; actually, I am trying to do the opposite."

"He's never been that good with feelings." Roman made a side comment.

Morality nodded in understanding. "Oh, well, kiddo, you tried your best."

"I was instead trying to offer the opportunity to compare the situations. Prior to this happenstance, something must have happened for Virgil to be open for Deceit to enter." on started. "As François de La Rochefoucauld once said-"

Roman looked surprised. "Nick-nack paddy-wack, Logan, who de what?"

"A 17th century French author of memoir and maxims. He did not denounce nor celebrate human conduct and had a very clear view of the world. Notably, he had a very strong ethical background." Logan explained.

"So, Francis de La Road-Construction said-" The creative side was interrupted.

"No, you're pronouncing it wrong. It's François de La Rochefoucauld." The logical side corrected.

Roman tried again. "Fanny de Roaches-Follow-Me."

"Stop." Logic stopped him. "This is getting us no where. He was the Prince de Marcillac."

The creative side stopped. "Oh! He was a Prince. I understand now, so what was this French prince saying?"

Patton was antsy. "Yeah, can we please get to that? I want to help Virgil..."

Logan was hit with a new sense of urgency. "François de La Rochefoucauld once said that 'Our distrust justifies the deceit of others.'"

The moral side looked enlightened. "Ohhh, so there had to be some distrust going around?"

"Correct. To make Virgil so open for Deceit's attack, he must have been distrustful of someone, perhaps even us." He opened the possibility.

Patton frowned. "No....what could we have done to cause him to not trust us?" He bit his lip.

It was his fault that Virgil didn't trust him, so it was his fault that Deceit attacked him. It was all clear as day to him, but apparently, this was not so to the others.

Logan raised a reassuring hand. "Not to worry, Patton. You did nothing to cause this. Deceit's impersonation of you must have caused Virgil to doubt when he took over. He would therefore be distrustful of whatever you have said in the past until he received the information that clarified the time line for him, and since he doubted the positive side, the negative side would have had stronger influence on him."

"You're saying that Virgil would be okay if I didn't let Deceit pretend to be me!" Patton but his hands on his head. "So it is my fault!"

If he had been even slightly stronger, they wouldn't be in this situation right now.

Roman shook his head. "No, it isn't your fault, Patton. None of this is your fault; you didn't intentionally cause this."

"But that doesn't mean that I'm not to blame." The moral side looked up in despair. "Virgil must have felt betrayed by me in order to feel that distrustful."

The creative side didn't quite know how to make him feel better. "Were you the one to attack and viciously violate Virgil?" He didn't comment on the alliteration, seeing the mood and atmosphere of the room becoming increasingly dark.

"Of course not!" Patton put his hands on his heart. He would never do such a thing!

"Then, you are not at fault." Roman concluded.

"But-"

"No buts! It isn't your fault that this happened. We can only move forward and make those who are at fault pay for what they have done." Creativity declared.

Logan nodded. "As much as it hurts to say this, Roman's right. We have to all be completely honest with each other about how we are feeling from now on. We cannot allow any of us to feel such distrust that Deceit would be able to slither in and take hold."

Patton looked serious. "Of course! But how did he take control of me? I trust all of you!"

Roman frowned. "Well call me a biscuit and-"

"Biscuit." Logan responded, taking it literally.

The creative side immediately groaned. "I did not mean that literally, and you know it! If I was being literal, I would have asked for some Crofters too."

"No!" The logical side defended.

"Now, Logan, it's always nice to share." Patton admonished. "But how was I open to deceit? The video right before 'Can Lying be Good?' was the Christmas episode." He looked stressed.

Roman looked stumped. "Maybe my line about the shrimp was so out of line that you stopped trusting me?" He looked hurt at the notion.

"No!" Patton shook his head. "I will trust you with my life if I have to, Roman. I definitely wouldn't throw that away over one line of lyrics."

Logan agreed. "There must have been something greater going on that caused Patton to feel that way. That incredibly inappropriate line may have merely been the last straw for him."

"But he made up for it with that adorable line about Virgil!" Patton put his hands together and sighed in nostalgia.

"There!" Logan pointed to Patton.

"Right there!" Roman continued. "Look at that tan, well tinted skin-"

The logical side put a finger in Roman's direction to silence him. "Now is not the time to sing a Legally Blonde song."

The creative side frowned. "Well, why did you start me off then?"

"I did no such thing! I was pointing out Patton's obvious nostalgia! He is being nostalgic about the line you put in to replace the one about shrimp in your song parody. In the nostalgia videos, Patton expressed a distrust towards us considering his more negative emotions." Logan pointed out.

Morality looked confused. "And that was what left me open towards Deceit? But there was an entire video in between them! Why didn't he replace me then?"

"Perhaps it wouldn't have been as...rewarding to replace you then. We were only singing Christmas carols after all." Logic offered. "To maximize his effect on Thomas, he would want to go in to a video that really questions Thomas's morality in something like the lying video." He explained.

Patton looked discomforted. "But I stopped being that distrustful! He should have been kicked out." He crossed his arms.

"It is very hard to kick someone out if you've already let them in." Roman mentioned. "If an invader comes into your home and he enters before you slam the door, then he is still in your house only there is no exit."

His eyes widened. "So he's been in my house ever since?"

"Your metaphorical house." Logan clarified.

"And I've been thinking all these thoughts about how it must have been my fault!" Patton gasped.

Maybe it was Deceit making him feel this way?

Logic snapped his fingers in realization. "Yes! You opened the door for him to enter but never for him to exit. Even though he already impersonated you, you never really opened that metaphorical door."

"Well, you know what they say about open doors." Roman crossed his arms. "And Deceit definitely doesn't make the requirements."

The logical side looked confused again. "What do they say about open doors?"

"Love is an open door!" Creativity burst out in song.

Logan silenced him with a glare. "Now is not the time for Disney, Roman! However, it is possible that we could consider this." He paused. "The door would be reopened if you express love while still acknowledging Deceit's hold on you."

"Well, I love all of you guys." Patton looked dreamy.

"So you could use your love for all of us to open the door and kick him out!" Roman idealized.

The logical side was quiet for a few moments as he deliberated. "We could talk about it in a session similar to group therapy and draw out the deceitful, distrustful thoughts before Deceit can make his move."

"Goodie! I don't want any of you to be played like a pawn." The moral side sighed in relief as he checked the temperature on Virgil again. It was slightly lower than before.

Logan looked doubtful. "I have never seen you play chess. Do you know how to move a pawn?"

"Ummm, I pick it up and move it." Patton looked victorious.

He sighed. "Very well, I will move on from this as this obviously is not going anywhere."

Roman looked between the two conscious sides. "So, we have our plan?"

"Yes, for now at least." Logan acquiesced.

Patton raised his hand.

"Yes, Patton?" The teacher within him called out for the moral side.

Morality pointed to Anxiety. "What about Virgil? He's been in this ice bath for a while now, and his temperature has only gone down a small bit!"

Logan walked over to the other side of the tub where Patton was standing and examined the thermometer. "His body temperature should have dropped by now."

Virgil's temperature was still too high at 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Did Deceit poison him? Curse him?" Roman gasped.

The logical side looked up. "I do not believe that Deceit has the power to 'curse' people since that it is more of a...fanciful ideation. Poison has merit, but I will need samples to make sure."

Patton looked concerned. "Samples of what?"

"I'm going to start out with a simple blood sample." Logan retrieved a sterile syringe from somewhere within Thomas's imagination.

The moral side cringed. "No! Virgil's lost enough blood already! You don't need to go poking him with needles!"

The logical side looked frustrated. "Taking this blood sample will not cause Virgil to die of blood loss. He would need to lose much more blood for that to be the case. I do need to 'poke him with my needle' because it will help us identify exactly what Deceit did to Virgil and what steps we can take to fix this." He explained and brought out Anxiety's arm.

Oddly enough, there was already evidence of a needle prick. It was several days old, but it was still there.

Logan thumbed the mark. "I believe there is poison...or some kind of drug according to this needle mark."

"Virgil would never do drugs!" Patton defended.

"Yes, but Deceit may have injected him with some foreign substance." The logical side showed the mark to the fatherly figure. "I will take a sample to determine what it was that he injected Virgil with. Nothing else can be done before I get those answers....We do not know if whatever substance within him would react negatively with medicine or not."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me happy, and any suggestions are appreciated! I will now respond to my comments using more than just Deceit as my character of choice. :)
> 
> Is he gay or European? ;);)


	5. Subtraction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The blood test.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing, so sorry if anyone is ooc. I made up the pathogen...it ain't real

The blood test would take a long time to complete naturally. Tests like that do not happen in the blink of an eye, but Roman was getting pretty bored of it. After setting up the tests, Logan had returned and organized a schedule to monitor Virgil and how he was doing.

Of course, Patton elected to go first and tried to remain by his son's side forever. He refused to move from his spot next to Virgil for a long time until Logan somehow managed to convince him to leave.

It was the creative side's turn to babysit Jason Toddler. He didn't do anything. He just laid there, back in his bed, looking paler than usual even without his white foundation. Sighing, Roman rechecked the anxious side's body temperature. It was still plateauing around 101 degrees, and that was unacceptable.

What was Deceit thinking, harming one of their own in this way? What could he possibly gain from brutally attacking Virgil? It wasn't like the anxious side went out of his way to antagonize the snake-like one anyway.

Or did he? Did Deceit decide that Virgil needed to be taught a lesson for something, or did he just like being cruel all the time?

He was probably just being cruel and sticking towards his villainous ways. As a prince, Roman knew exactly how to wake Virgil up, but Logan had immediately condemned his idea. He supposed the logical side had a point though; Virgil got on his back enough in "The Dark Side of Disney" about lack of consent among princes and sleeping princesses.

The fanciful side clicked his tongue as time passed, wondering when Logan's tests will be completed. Then, they'll be able to figure out what is wrong with Hot Topic, fix him, and get him back to his old gloomy self.

Was Deceit's impersonation of Patton the only trigger for the anxious side's distrust? Knowing Virgil, Roman suspected that there might be multiple reasons, but of course, they couldn't find out for sure until he woke up. Virgil's anxiety often caused him to doubt the love and affection the other sides gave him, and based off of Logan's declaration, that could contribute to Deceit's takeover.

Virgil must be stronger than Deceit, but they couldn't risk giving Thomas even worse anxiety. Plus, when he has more anxiety, Deceit gains strength as well, but if Deceit were to become weak, Virgil would too...

It was a tricky game they were playing. Patton and Deceit neutralized each other; the sides had known that from the very beginning. However, no one quite knew who opposed Virgil, and he certainly never shared with the others. Was it possible that he had no counter? Maybe they were all his counter?

In all honesty, Logan was probably the opposing side to neutralize Virgil. During their debate in the negative thinking video, he effectively neutralized all that Virgil was doing at the time. Often times when Virgil comes up with an argument, Logan is the one to correct him.

Roman knew that Virgil didn't mind this; he always wanted what was best for Thomas.

But wouldn't his weakened state cause the counter side to strengthen? Logan seemed to be no stronger than usual. Perhaps he wasn't Virgil's opposing side?

The creative side sighed; who the hell was HIS counter? Was it the dragon witch? He honestly had no flipping clue.

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and light filled the room. It was Morality.

"Hey, kiddo!" Patton entered the room quietly and took a seat next to his dark, strange son.

The creative side gave the other a long look. Wasn't it his turn? "You aren't supposed to be here right now, Patton."

"Oh, I know, but I don't want something to happen to him while I'm away." The moral side hummed slightly.

Roman raised his eyebrow. "Nothing will happen to our emo nightmare while I am around to slay any beast that comes his way!"

"I know." Patton responded. "But I would never forgive myself if something did happen."

Princey frowned. "Yeah, me too." He wasn't used to Patton's new array of emotions quite yet. "But aren't you supposed to be resting to stop Deceit from gaining power?"

"Yeah." Morality beamed. "That's why I brought a sleeping bag!" He eagerly showed the creative side a blue sleeping bag decorated with cats and dogs.

"That's great, Patton." Roman smirked.

Whilst Patton settled down on the floor, Virgil made no movements nor any sound. Roman should have expected that. It wasn't like he was going to magically get better until they figure out what is wrong with him; this wasn't a fairy tale.

Ten minutes later, the logical side finally reentered the room with a big book.

"Did you find something, specks?" Roman looked up at Logic.

Logan nodded. "I believe I might have. Virgil's blood has come up positive for a type of pathogen that can be spread via inoculation or infected needles."

"What is it?" Patton sat up.

"The virus causes a high fever and a coma-like state externally, but internally, it can cause the erythrocytes to become malformed." Logan reported.

"Erythro-what?" Morality's eyebrows furrowed.

Logic turned to face the other. "Erythrocytes. Red blood cells."

"Oh...like sickle cell anemia?" Patton offered.

"Not quite, but it is a similar topic, I suppose. I must congratulate you on such knowledge; it truly is unusual for you." Logan paused.

The moral side crossed his arms. "Now, kiddo, that isn't the nicest thing to say to your dad."

The logical side ignored him. "I thought I told you to exit Virgil's room and rest."

"I am!" Patton gestured towards his blue sleeping bag. "I'm just doing it next to my son."

Logan cocked his head to the side. "Leet."

"He means 'lit.'" Roman took out a nail file and held up his hand as if inspecting them. "Anyways, how do we fix him?"

The moral side stood up next to his some. "Well, we'd need a vaccine, right?"

"No." Logan shook his head. "Vaccines are only effective prior to infection by a virus. After infection, we should use an antiviral."

"Then, let's do that!" Patton shrugged.

The logical side agreed. "Yes, we shall, hopefully before the irregular erythrocytes cause serious dilemmas."

Morality paused. "What sort of dilemmas would that cause?" He was hesitant as if he didn't really want to know the answer.

Logan looked towards Patton. "Since you knew about sickle cell anemia, I would have assumed you knew what it would cause. Apologies."

"It's fine, kiddo. I don't really know the difference between what he has and sickle cell anyway." He brushed it off.

"Virgil is affected by a virus while sickle cell anemia is caused by an error in the genome." Logic adjusted his glasses. "As for what it would cause, the irregular shape of the red blood cells would cause them to have difficulties flowing smoothly through the blood stream. As a result, they would build up, and the blood vessels could get clogged, which could lead to the death of several organs and organ systems depending on what areas are cut off from the oxygen supply."

Patton's eyes widened. "No!" He put his hands to his face and shook his head.

"I'm with him here." Roman's face was incredulous. "You didn't bother telling us this?"

"As I said earlier, I assumed that you all knew." Logan replied seriously.

Before the other two sides could get into a serious argument, Patton gripped Virgil's hand and stopped it. "Come on, kiddos, we have to figure out how to fix Virgil before it is too late." He blinked back tears.

In a different part of the mindscape, Deceit crossed his legs. While he always lied when he talked, he could think honest thoughts. He needed less competition in order for him to gain control of Thomas, and that meant that the other sides had to be, well, subtracted. Erased. Destroyed.

Virgil used to be helpful to him. The shy side would believe every word he said and do whatever he asked, but after he was introduced to the 'light' sides, his mind had been poisoned. He had to do what he could to fix what they had done to Anxiety. He had to restore him to his former glory, and he took steps to do it. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to work, but at the very least, Virgil wouldn't be bothering him any time soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions make me happy! I will respond using Deceit, Patton, Virgil, Roman, and Logan.


	6. Logical Lying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New ideas are formed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing, so sorry if anyone is OOC!

"He's breathing rather quickly." Patton furrowed his brow. "Almost like he just finished a marathon, but that shouldn't be possible either."

Logan frowned. "Check his pulse."

The moral side followed the command and put two fingers on Virgil's wrist. After a minute, the fatherly figure looked up quissically.

"How fast is it?" The logical side pressed.

"I got 140 beats in a minute." Patton responded.

Roman whistled. "That's fast." He looked worried. "Why is it so fast?"

Logan approached Virgil's unconscious body on the left and removed the blanket.

"What are you doing, teach?" The fanciful side inquired. 

Logic briefly looked up at him, adjusted his glasses, and turned back to Virgil, lifting the shirt the anxious side was wearing up to his chest. "I am attempting to diagnose the issue at hand. Virgil is inflicted with a pathogen which affects him similarly to how he would be affect had he have sickle cell anemia. Meaning, I am checking to see if he has any conditions that could be caused by the malformed erythrocytes."

Roman nodded in acknowledgement. "I see. Can I help?" He still felt like he owed it to Anxiety to make up for the torture he put him through.

"Yes. May you please hand me all of my results from the blood test?" Logan asked.

"Right-o." Princey turned on his heel and marched towards the binder on a nearby table. "What do you want me to look for?"

"Erythrocyte count." He replied. "If I am correct, it should be lower than 4.7 million cells per microliter of blood."

It was silent except for the pages turning as Roman searched for the information he required.

"It's at 4.1 million." Creativity winced. "Is that bad?"

"Yes. It means he is anemic, and with that and his unusual paleness, high heart rate, and quick breathing, I should only need one more piece of information to credit my hypothesis." He probably wouldn't need a CT scan anyway.

Logan carefully put his hands on Virgil's upper left stomach and waited for a moment. Just as he thought, he could feel a round lump.

"What's wrong with him?" Patton sounded terrified, and they knew him well enough to know that he was.

"Splenic sequestration." The logical side stood up straight. "The irregular cells have blocked the blood flow through his spleen, and as an effect, it has filled with blood."

The moral side made a sound of distress. "Is it dangerous?"

"It has the potential to be life-threatening, yes." Logan was interrupted.

"What? Logan, we can't let Virgil die! He's family, and we have to do everything we can do to make him healthy again." Patton tensed.

The logical side clicked his tongue. "I wasn't finished. The spleen is most likely painful to Virgil right now, but right now, we should be concerned with keeping him alive. This can cause a drop in erythrocyte count as we have seen, and this is very dangerous."

Roman got where he was coming from. "So we should somehow give him some more blood that is healthy to increase his blood volume." He snapped his fingers.

"Exactly!" Logan allowed himself a small smile at the creative side's reasoning.

"I'll do it! I'll give him some blood!" Patton immediately threw his hand up in the air and bounced on his feet.

The logical side pursed his lips. "We don't know if you and Virgil have compatible blood types-" He was cut off yet again.

"We are all part of Thomas; we have the same blood!" Patton snapped at him before catching himself. "Sorry, kiddo. Just a bit stressed over here."

"It's fine." Logan brushed it off. "Very well. I'll go get supplies for blood transfusions." He quickly left the room, thinking about the possibility for error. What is he was wrong? He certainly had been wrong before, but he couldn't afford being incorrect now.

Roman and Patton were quiet for a few moments as they stared at the anxious side.

"Do you think he can hear us?" Morality inquired softly and emotionally. "I've heard that coma patients sometimes can."

Creativity considered this. "Perhaps Jason Toddler can." He paused. "Do you think we should put on some of those angsty tunes he listens to?"

Patton brightened. "Good idea!" He looked towards the couch and retrieved the device before removing the headphone cord.

As soon as it was turned on, My Chemical Romance started playing in the background. Smiling a bit, the moral side pranced towards Virgil and knelt down close to him.

"I love you, Virgil! We all love you, and we hope you get better soon! Logan has gone to get some stuff, and he'll do some really smart things to get you better!" Patton cooed in his ear.

There was a thud coming from what seemed like the hallway, and it was followed by more sounds. Patton looked up in confusion.

"I don't think Logan is that clumsy." He sighed.

Roman shook his head. "It sounds like it might be coming from that music. I mean, it is edgy, right? So maybe it has some random thuds and crashes." He shrugged as a crash sounded.

Internally, he knew he was being a bit too fanciful, but he couldn't bring himself to take action for some reason. It was almost like he was being subconsciously squeezed. He decided not to check outside.

"Hmm." Patton sat on the bed next to Virgil and hummed. "How long do you think Logan will take?"

"Not much longer hopefully." Roman responded.

Right on cue, a tie-clad side walked into the room with needles and tubes.

"Logan!" Patton jumped up. "Put it in me." He stuck out his arm, willing to hear the needle for his dark, strange son.

"It would be wise to wait some time first.'' The side placed the materials on a nearby table.

Roman frowned in confusion. "Why would we wait? Virgil needs to be fixed pronto!"

"I don't want to hurt him." He answered. "Transfusing blood in a hurry isn't something I am willing to do."

Patton sighed. "You're not going to hurt him, Logan! We need to heal the spleen requestion thing."

"Patton, I want you to feel Virgil's upper left abdomen." He directed. "What do you feel?"

The moral side looked confused but did as he was told anyway. He sucked in a breath. "There's a lump...."

"Right. I don't think it is his spleen anymore." The side shook his head.

Roman scoffed. "What else could it be? You never admit to being wrong, and you infinitessimally make mistakes!" He grinned, and Patton allowed himself to snort at that.

"I think it might be a tumor." He answered.

The creative side shook his head. "No, you're not that careless. You would have checked for that, so Virgil's room is probably getting to you. Just do it."

The other side blinked once, fixed his glasses, and sighed. "Fine. Patton, this won't hurt at all."

Patton winced at the pain and angrily pouted at the other.

The said side brought up a new topic. "What do you all think Deceit will do after this is all over?"

Roman thought this over. "I don't know. He'll still be Deceit."

Morality nodded. "Yeah, and I'm not letting him on my good side any time soon." He growled protectively.

He understood. "Yes, but do you think he might let up if we only listen to him?"

"I don't want to hear anything that bastard has to say." Patton crossed his arms and cursed.

"I think he will stop harassing Virgil once we surrender. It may be our only option since we can't let him die." He suggested. "I think we should relinquish control over the mindscape to save Virgil."

Patton furrowed his brow and backed away from him. "You're not making sense, Logan. We can't give in to Deceit; Virgil told us that the dark sides under his control are treated horribly, remember? It won't end with that. We must win."

Roman agreed with the moral side. "I say, you've taken a turn since you left." He raised his eyebrow.

The other side confirmed this. "Walking through the hallways can do that. It helped me get an accurate picture whilst I was away from this room."

"How?" Morality asked.

"If we let Deceit take control, then, he won't feel the need to keep us down. He'll stop this torture and perhaps even heal Virgil. I don't think it will hurt Thomas since like Virgil, he is a self preservation trait. He wants what is best for Thomas too deep down."

Patton shook his head. "No. He doesn't, but you wouldn't know that, would you?"

"What are you talking about? I know everything; I'm Thomas's logical side." He looked incredulous.

"You're not." Roman walked to Morality and removed the needle in his arm. "You're not Logan."

The other side rolled his eyes dramatically and took off his glasses. In a haze, he transformed into a figure they all knew too well.

Deceit.

"Was this needle infected with the virus?" The fanciful side held the needle that came out of Patton's arm in Deceit's face. Patton let out a high pitched whine of distress at the idea that the needle that was in his arm could be contaminated with the virus. He needed to be there for his kiddos!

Deceit smirked. "I think a better question would be about Logan."

Roman was fooled. "That's right! Where is he, you villainous scum!?" He unsheathed his newly-sharpened sword.

"He's where you would least expect it." Laughing mysteriously, he began to sink out.

In an attempt to rid them of the snake, Roman slashed in his direction, but unfortunately, he was gone before he could make contact.

Patton frowned. "Logan should be in the place we expect him to be then!" He pointed out. "Hallway perhaps? There were sounds there, remember?" He winced. He knew he should have investigated the mysterious thuds and crashes.

He was a terrible father.

No, he couldn't let him feel insecure or distrustful. Deceit would come, but what if he already came?

He was the counter to Deceit, so if he were injured, he would gain strength. Obviously, he would want that, right? So why wouldn't he have contaminated that needle? It would be beneficial to him...

"Right..." Roman snapped and opened the door.

The scene was horrific. He wasn't sure how he missed it.

All of the furniture was knocked over, and there was a very, very still body in the hallway center...

"Logan!" Patton rushed out and touched the downed side. "Roman, go get a new needle and help Virgil. I'll try to figure out what is wrong with Logan." Patton was dead serious.

The creative side acknowledged him and ran to get a needle.

"Logan? Logan?" The moral side hit his face a bit. He was still. There was blood on his head.

Frowning, Patton attempted to find the source of the bleeding. It was on his head, sticky and glistening in the light of the hallway.

Roman came back with a new needle. "Um, do you want to switch? I can suture and stitch..."

"No, Virgil needs uncontaminated blood." Patton swallowed. "But come back afterwards."

Roman was gone for what felt like forever. "Roman!" Patton called.

"Coming!" Creativity felt like he was needed everywhere.

With bandages, the fanciful side knelt next to the logical side. Immediately, he started cleaning the wound.

"Was he....you know?" He glanced down at his pants.

Patton shook his head. "Deceit probably didn't have time to do it." He was infuriated, but Logan luckily was not raped.

The moral side felt tugged between the logical and the anxious side. Thinking quickly, he checked both of Logan's arms.

There was needle hole near the elbow.

"Roman? Logan has a needle puncture..." Patton teared up.

Roman cursed. "Fuck Deceit. Come on, let's lay him by Virgil." Roman bit his lip and tried to hide the emotions on his face.

Morality understood and opened the door as Creativity carried Logic through it. Patton allowed several tears to fall as he tucked the logical side into bed next to Anxiety.

Creativity crossed his arms and sighed. "What should we do now?" 

"Stop Deceit." Patton's face had flushed red with anger.

Roman merely looked at the other two sides for the longest time.

Virgil still showed no signs of moving. Upon further inspection, the bump was still prominent under the skin of his abdomen. Logan had gone down now too. What was he insecure about? Did he have doubts over whether or not they could help Virgil? That seemed plausible.

Suddenly, he felt Patton's arm grab hold of him.

"Yes?"

"Roman, I don't feel that great." The moral side looked pained.

He collapsed to the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me happy! Will respond with all five Sides.


	7. The Reckless, Illogical, and Immoral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Most of the Sides are gone for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing, so sorry if anyone is OOC.

The alarm went off too early. Groaning, Thomas slammed his hand in its direction, knocking the device off of the table. The room fell quiet. Relieved, he fell back into the realm of Morpheus.

But that alarm had been set for a reason, a very important one. See, Thomas had a really good friend named Joan, and they were counting on him to show up bright and early to a nearby coffee shop along with Talyn and Terrence. They needed some advice from their friends concerning their future and where they were going in life.

However, Thomas had just knocked the alarm clock off of the counter. He didn't even press the button to snooze a little bit. If that were to happen on any other day, his anxiety would have kicked in. Alarm clocks and other devices were expensive, so he couldn't afford breaking the one he reluctantly used. 

Furthermore, there would ordinarily be the voice of reason in his head reminding him about his unhealthy sleep cycle and the effects it could have on his circadian rhythm. The logical side would also urge him to at least get up to brush his teeth since laying in bed and procrastinating forever can lead to worsening anxiety.

Unfortunately yet fortunately, that would not be happening anytime soon.

For Joan, Thomas would have normally woken up and gotten ready to meet with his friends, but for some reason, he still decided to sleep in. He would usually do anything for his friends, but today, he just wasn't feeling it.

His brain however was still generating new creative ideas, so Thomas was eager to sink back into his dreams and live through intense and exciting stories away from reality for a couple more hours.

It seemed like only a few moments had passed before his phone went off. Picking his head up, the man snatched the phone off of the table it had been resting on with no concern for the charging wire that was brutally ripped from the wall. The plug hung from the outlet, half in, half out.

_Joan_

_Hey, man, where are you? Are you running late?_

Thomas elected to ignore the text and opened the tumblr app on his phone, searching for things that would really give him some extra creativity to think of a new project.

Most days, he would never had ignored his friend. Most days, he would have gotten up with his alarm clock and arrived on time (ish) to support Joan and their ventures. Most days, he had is Morality to drive him to do those things, and Patton definitely would have gotten on his case about not replying and therefore lying through omission.

He got another text a few moments later.

_Joan_

_I saw you read that last one._

_Are you doing okay? Social anxiety getting at you?_

Thomas made an annoyed sound and waited for the message to disappear. The omission continued for what seemed like forever although it was only a few minutes in reality.

_Joan_

_Thomas?_

Obviously, Joan was going to text Thomas until they got a response. Now, what should he say?

_Thomas_

_Sorry, my neighbor had a bad fall down some stairs. I don't think I'll be able to make it today._

With that lie of commission, Thomas turned his phone off and tossed it carelessly to the side as he went to go watch cartoons.

Inside his mind, everything had devolved into chaos. The creative side had some medicinal knowledge, but it was only the basics. Logan could run all sorts of tests on Virgil, and he couldn't.

Everyone must be so ashamed of him. He was the Prince, the defender of the sides, and he let all three of them get taken out by the villain. Roman kept his blade out at all times nowadays for he could never be sure when the slimy snake would appear next.

Sighing, he sat next to those he called his family. He remembered all the movie nights, family dinners, discussions they had all had and been apart of in the past. That was back when they were all at peace and happy with one another.

He had just checked all of their body temperatures, and all of them were fairly high. But Logan's had skyrocketed since he had last checked. Roman furrowed his brow. What could have happened to the logical side that did not happen to the other two sides.

Perhaps it had something to do with the malformed red blood cells? Creativity scrambled to come up with a plausible explanation for this. The fanciful side put his hand on the upper left abdomen like they had done for Virgil, but he didn't feel any sort of enlargement of the spleen at this time.

Roman remained quiet as he leaned over the logical side. He was wheezing and breathing pretty quickly. Did that mean that this issue wasn't in his spleen but in his lungs? It seemed likely.

Frowning, Creativity turned to the binder that Logan had brought in back when he had first tested Virgil. In addition to the results of the test, he had provided some information in the binder. Perhaps Logic might have predicted that something like this might happen.

He knew that the oddly shaped cells would probably clog a lot of veins, and there certainly were a lot in the lungs. The virus that Deceit had given them all were really doing a number on them.

But what could be wrong with Logan? Roman didn't want to mess this up and accidentally kill him, but if he waited for too long, he might do just that. Would another blood transfusion fix this?

If Logan was having problems breathing in his unconscious state, that might mean that the malformed shapes were blocking the way out of the lungs, so he would not be able to transport oxygen to the rest of his body, which would cause cells to die and prevent ATP from being produced.

God, he was glad that Logan forced them all to pay attention while Thomas was studying chemical engineering.

Since his blood was oxygenated enough, would the transfusion work? He assumed so and carefully got out the needle. Hopefully, he wouldn't mess up and make the situation worse.

He had never truly appreciated how much the others contributed and how much Roman needed them until now when he was the one who had to figure out how to save them by himself.

While the transfusion was running, Roman desperately searched through the binder to find any and all information about what could be happening to Logan.

But at the same time, malformed blood cells could be clogging veins and causing problems for both Virgil and Patton as well, and he wouldn't even notice since he was trying to get Logan to breathe easier.

Roman took the needle out and checked on the other two sides again. There was no noticeable change from prior, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

 The fanciful side heard a loud knock on the door. He raised his sword as he marched over to it. It could only be Deceit. He swung the door open.

But no one was there. Roman looked up and down the hallway in confusion as he searched for the deceitful side, but he found nothing.

Nothing except for a familiar hat resting on the floor with a note tucked in it.

Roman poked the hat with his sword and shoved it off of the letter.

_Don't look behind you._

_~Deceit_

Creativity looked confused. Obviously, Deceit wanted him to look behind him, but he had just been there. What could be so different?

Roman turned on his heel, shut the door, and marched to his family.

Suddenly, his sword clattered on the ground. 

Logan had stopped breathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions make me happy! What do you guys think?


	8. Why?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman has a lot to think over

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing, so sorry if anyone is OOC

Roman froze. When did Logan stop breathing? He rushed to his companion's side and felt his pulse. It was still strong but a bit erratic. Should he do CPR?

He didn't think so. In the battle field, CPR was saved for those who had a weak pulse. At least, that was what the kingdom's physician said. Perhaps he should find an airway regulator thing?

He didn't have much time. Scanning the room, he found something like that with the supplies Logic had initially brought. Creativity briefly wondered if he knew it would be him to need it first.

The Prince seized hold of the device and quickly fitted it over Logan's airways and turned it on. 

The machine was making the logical side breathe normally, but Roman still could not be sure if the oxygen was being passed on to the cells. What if that wasn't truly the problem?

Roman was at a loss. Normally, Logan was the one to do all this smart person stuff, not him. The others truly needed him in order to survive.

The fanciful side checked the other side's pulse once more. Slowly, it was becoming more and more steady. Thankfully.

He breathed a sigh of relief, believing the danger to be passed now, but it never truly left. Danger was always present when the deceitful side was involved, and it was especially present whilst the other sides were comatose.

Roman moved to Patton and Virgil, doing his best to check them over as well. Patton seemed to be doing okay at this moment in time except for the fact that he was unconscious. Virgil on the other hand was still having problems.

The creative side could feel the same lump that he felt before in the area of the anxious side's spleen. Last time, it was temporarily fixed by a blood transfusion, but could he really trust himself to do it again?

Besides, wasn't there a quote that said that doing the same thing and expecting different results was insanity? Roman thought so, but he didn't really care anymore. He would continue to give blood transfusions until he had none left to give if he could.

The blood transfusion would buy him some time to find a cure. He should be looking for an antiviral if he recalled what Logan said correctly.

Finding a vein, the logical side carefully slid the needle into Virgil's arm and waited as the red liquid poured through the plastic tube.

He hoped Deceit didn't come in again. For some reason, the snake-like side only left a note this time. Otherwise, he didn't make his presence known. Why was that? Despite not knowing him as well as Virgil did, Roman did know that he had a flair for the dramatics like himself. Why didn't he just show up in person?

The contents of the note were also subject to suspicion. Why would Deceit of all people write that? Why would he tell Roman that Logan had stopped breathing?

Deceit was the one to poison him in the first place, infect him with the horrible disease. He wouldn't have warned Roman unless he truly had a change of heart, and that was unlikely.

It seemed plausible then that this was the writing of an imposter. Perhaps someone did not agree with Deceit and wanted to help him. Unfortunately, based off of Virgil's condition when they first found him, they were likely to be punished brutally.

 The identity of the person would have to remain a mystery for now although Roman did wonder how they retrieved Deceit's hat.

Maybe it was Remy? That dude was hanging out around here more and more often since the other three were technically asleep.

That's it! Perhaps he could get the actual personification of sleep to waken the three sleeping beauties. If it was possible, it would definitely help Roman figure out a way to cure them.

However, Remy was truly a pretty chill dude, and there was no way he would do this to the three sides (especially not Patton) willingly. That would mean that Deceit was pulling his strings.

Therefore, Remy wouldn't want to be seen conversing (not conversating, Logan) with him and would thus pretend to be Deceit, even phrasing the note in a lie. Roman would have to protect him and get him away from Deceit (and maybe buy him some Starbucks) in order to get his help.

But where was the clod? Roman had no idea where to start, and he was supposed to be the creative one.

Sighing, he took the needles out of their arms and put it aside to be sterilized or whatever. Virgil seemed to be doing better, but he would have to wait for more time to pass before he could make an accurate assumption.

He could go out and search for Remy, but then, he would leave the other three alone. If their cells clumped in a bad place, then it could potentially kill them quickly, or Deceit could show up and take them out himself. Besides, Remy might not even be able to help.

But if he didn't leave, then Remy's location would remain a mystery. He would not get him to assist them all, and Sleep would remain in Deceit's clutches. Roman needed the other three sides awake to help him figure out how to heal them.

Logan would certainly be helpful right about now.

He could maybe bring the others with him? It would be hard for him, and it would probably hurt them. So perhaps not. Maybe he could lock the door to the room and bar it? Deceit could still get in. 

Perhaps he could get one of the lesser known dark sides to defend them while he was away? That was ridiculous. There was no way Roman would know whether or not he could trust the guy.

However, it was eerily clear that the longer he waited to heal them the more likely they were to die. Thomas was already struggling as it was (Roman cringed every time he looked at what he was doing). If the comatose sides were to die, there would be irreversible effects on Thomas.

What would a man be without his anxiety, logic, and morality?

He could see how Thomas could quickly become dangerously bad, especially with Deceit in play.

He had to help Thomas, but to do that he had to fix the sides. And to do that he needed their help, and that required him to get Remy.

But what if he couldn't find him?

He never seemed to be around when Thomas needed him, so why would he be around now?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestions and comments are welcome!  
> Do you guys want me to bring Remy in or nah?


	9. Remy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Roman gets some help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing, so sorry if anyone is OOC!

Roman frowned as he fortified the room. What if he was unable to rise back up into the room once he sank out? He tried not to think about that right now and focused on his own imagination and creativity.

He knew that he would need some input from the other guys to fully solve the problem at hand, but he was Thomas's creativity for God's sake! Why was he suddenly failing so hard at the one task he was supposed to be good at?

If he were Logan (which he thankfully was not), he would probably suspect his eating and sleeping schedule to be the culprit. Since Virgil's discovery, he had not been taking proper care of himself at all, but at the same time, Patton had not been doing so either. Besides, they had already discussed in a video that in order to be creative he had to have a schedule (courtesy of Logan) and a drive (courtesy of Patton), and a bit of anxiety from Virgil wouldn't hurt either.

But none of them were capable of helping him right now, but it was clear that someone was on his side. Summoning a Starbucks drink, he carefully stepped outside in an attempt to attract the personification of sleep.

"Remy! Lots of sides are asleep over here....that's kind of your area...dude." Roman waved the drink around. "Do you want Starbucks? I got some Starbucks for you, and I could really use your help right now. A hero could always use a sidekick after all, and I think you would be simply marvelous at that job."

"Sleep isn't coming anywhere near you." A voice behind him enunciated.

The Prince twirled around, trying to imagine the other three sides waking to prevent him from taking this risk. They did not. "Deceit!" He immediately drew his katana out of the sheath. "How dare you come here, William Snakespeare?" Of course he could come up with an inventive insult but not a cure. Figures.

"Remy will not be assisting you at this current time." Deceit did not look amused.

"Wait, so he will?" Roman tried to figure out the lie. "I thought you didn't want someone to help us?"

The snake rolled his eyes. "I have complete control over Remy, and there is nothing you can do about that. My heart aches whenever I think of the situation our fellow sides have fallen into, and I would truly do anything to help them. However, I do not have the knowledge nor the means to help you, so I must leave it to you, Roman. I trust that you will heal them since your creativity never fails you."

"Wow, shut up." Another voice sounded from the opposite end of the hallway.

Roman allowed a small glance in the other direction. It was Remy. He walked towards Roman and carefully relieved him of his fancy drink.

"Okay, so why am I here? Gosh, you guys are getting so clingy." He adjusted his glasses.

"This fiend here has poisoned Virgil, Logan, and Patton, and I...don't know what to do on my own." Creativity swallowed hard. "I need you to wake them from their comas, so I can have some assistance getting a good idea."

Deceit hummed and spoke instead of Remy. "Poor little Roman, unable to think of a good idea. Thomas truly doesn't need you anymore; I've been trying to convince him of that for the past few days. Surely, you must have noticed."

The fanciful side froze. Deceit was trying to convince Thomas that he wasn't necessary? Impossible! Thomas himself had called Roman his own hero! However, it was true that Logan, Virgil, and Patton did not have any control over Thomas at the moment really. It was as if they all ducked out, but they were still there. And as they had discussed in the video, he needed the other sides to encourage creativity on his part! Without them, nothing would be encouraging Thomas to use him, and if Deceit was telling him the exact opposite....

Wait a second, he had forgotten that Deceit was a liar. He hadn't been trying to convince Thomas of anything of that nature, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't happening due to the absence of the other sides.

Without anything encouraging a creative environment, his own hold over Thomas would be weakening, so his counter's hold would be increasing. That must be why he couldn't wake the others up.....he was weak.

He couldn't protect them; he couldn't defend them. He could hardly defend himself, let alone the other three. He was a truly horrible Prince if he could even call himself that anymore.

Nonsense! He must prevent Deceit from controlling him with those lies. Is it possible that his hold was decreasing? Yes. Should that stop him from fighting? Never. It is better to go out fighting than hiding.

"Okay, so hold up." Remy held up his hands to stop their argument from spiraling. "You poisoned Patton, Logan, and Virgil." This was meant for the deceitful side.

"I did no such thing." Deceit scoffed at the notion.

Roman interrupted. "He did."

"Yeah, I get that, Princey. He's a liar, so I'm just taking the opposite. God, you think I'm stupid or something." He dramatically looked over his glasses and at his face. "What else happened, Deceit?"

The snake-like side glared at the personification of Sleep, but he had to respond with something unless he wanted Remy to automatically side with Roman. "Nothing of importance happened."

Remy looked disbelieving. "Fine. Roman, what happened?"

The creative side gestured to the deceitful one with his sword. "This monstrous villain here first poisoned and violated Virgil in the most atrocious of ways. He had a head injury, and I believe it to be a concussion. Next, the virus that infected Virgil caused a buildup of malformed cells within Virgil's spleen and was killing him. Logan ventured out to get supplies to help him, but obviously, while he was out, Deceit knocking him out, beat him, and infected him as well. Deceit mimicked Logan and took his place, getting infected supplies, so when Patton tried to intravenously give Virgil blood, the needle was also infected with the virus. Therefore, Patton had it too, so I had to run out and get new supplies for Virgil. That was when we found Logan. Patton tried to care for Logan as well as he could while I got Virgil some new blood, and then, we carried Logan inside. After that, Patton collapsed on me, and Virgil's spleen started acting up again. To make things worse, Logan started having problems breathing, likely because of a buildup of those cells in the lungs, and I had to hook him up to a machine to force him to continue breathing." Roman breathed a sigh of relief after he was done ranting to the personification of Sleep.

The said personification looked on in disbelief. "How the fuck did that happen?"

"He did it." Roman pointed fingers at Deceit.

"Yeah, I got that, sweet cheeks, but what the fuck, Deceit? Why?" Remy looked confused.

The deceitful side gave a sickly sweet smile. "Don't fret about that, Remy. The main light sides have been ignoring the dark sides, casting them into shadows. We are not given the same ability to manipulate Thomas as they are, and Virgil used to understand that. The dark sides have been the source of insults and lies at the fault of the light sides, and I will not stand to see any more abuse coming from them. I had to do something to even the playing field and give ourselves a chance to fix Thomas."

Sleep sipped his coffee. "Ooookay then. Deceit, like Anxiety, you are a self preservation trait. You come out when Thomas needs to defend himself usually. How exactly is all this helping Thomas?"

"He is getting a clearer view of what needs to happen in order to give him the best life possible. Lies give you power over others that common morality does not, don't you agree? It's perfectly fine to manipulate and deceive others for your own well-being; in fact, I encourage it in Thomas's case. He has been restrained by those light sides for far too long, and it is about time that he gets to run free from those burdens." Deceit announced.

Remy raised an eyebrow. "Sounding quite fanciful there, Deceit. Whatever, Roman, why do you think Deceit is coming out now?"

"Monty the Python here might think that he is doing what is best for Thomas, but he is just turning him into someone who doesn't value friendship and has the moral depravity of criminal. Thomas has been lying to those he cares about most, and Deceit is trying to turn him into a completely different person. Thomas cannot succeed if all Deceit does is take out those sides which give him the most power. Remy, you have to understand that Deceit is the villain here. He poisoned Virgil, Patton, and Logan, and that is unforgivable. Thomas cannot function without them." Roman was interrupted.

It was Deceit. "Thomas can function perfectly fine with the dark side counters."

"Then, why is Virgil out too? He himself is the counter of Logan I believe, so why are they both out?" The fanciful side challenged.

The snake-like one of course had an answer. "Virgil has been corrupted by you light sides, so I needed to teach him what it means to be a dark side. Soon enough, he'll come around and join me to make Thomas a better person."

"You are not making Thomas a better person!" Roman scoffed.

"Nevertheless, poor dear Anxiety has been the source of such vicious insults from you, Roman. He has stuck around through thick and thin trying to get to Thomas, but you three stood in his way. Eventually, you infiltrated his thoughts and turned him from the good person he once was to a monster." Deceit finished.

Creativity could hardly believe his ears. "Virgil is no monster, Rumplesnakeskin! How dare you come here and say that?"

"Enough, enough, you two need to, like, chill out." Remy clutched his coffee tightly as if he were afraid that someone would take it from him. "I've already decided that I'm going to help Roman. Deceit, you sicko, go get some help." He tossed a quarter at the deceitful side and disappeared into the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestions and comments make me happy!
> 
> This is my first time writing with Remy, so sorry if it isn't the best. I'm trying it out!


	10. Wakey-wakey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remy wakes the others up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing, so sorry if anyone is ooc!

"You had all three of them share a bed?" Remy raised his eyebrow at Roman

Roman scratched the back of his head. "Well...yeah. It was easier that way."

"Right." He rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee. Approaching one side of the bed, the side with Patton, he touched the side on the nose. "Rise, my glorious creation."

The creative side watched in awe as a couple moments passed of pure silence, but then, the moral side blinked open his eyes for the first time in what seemed like forever.

"Patton!" Roman scrambled over top of the bed to look down at the fatherly figure.

"Hey, kiddo! What happened here?" Patton looked at Remy out of confusion. It seemed that he hadn't noticed Virgil's and Logan's remaining unconsciousness yet.

The Sleep personification waved a bit. "Heyo, Roman here got me some Starbucks, so I was like 'hey I'll wake the others up.' You know, cause I'm like such a good person." He winked.

"Well, thanks!" He beamed before turning his head, seeing Virgil and Logan comatose. He noticed, to his horror, that Logan had acquired a breathing mask. "Why does Logan have that...thing on him?" Patton asked somewhat fearfully.

"You know how Virgil's spleen had a buildup of cells in it?" Roman started.

"Yeah..." The moral side frowned out of concern and began to sit up.

Creativity continued. "Well, Logan here got one of those buildups in his lungs after you passed out."

Patton made a sound of distress. "What? Is he okay? Are you okay? Has Virgil gotten worse? Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey!!!!"

"Woah, there, sunshine, calm the heck down." Remy marched over, flicked Logan in the face, and slapped Virgil. "Wake up, bitches. It's me."

Logan blinked a bit. "Hello, Remy. Roman, that was quite brilliant of you; even I did not think to get him to wake Virgil."

"Why did you have to slap me?" Virgil looked a bit annoyed, but he couldn't complain that much since he was awake. Plus, he was in between Patton and Logan, and he did appreciate being so close to them.

 "Virgil!" Roman beamed, thrusting his hands out in a pleased way.

The anxious side looked around. "Why are we all in my room?" He arched an eyebrow.

"You don't remember?" Patton looked confused. "It all started when Deceit knocked you out."

He bit his lip. "No, I do remember that, but this can't be the best place to keep everyone...can it? It's my room...not like Roman's or something."

"This place is adequate if not optimal for the situation at hand despite my concerns of Deceit knowing our whereabouts." Logan responded. "It is heavily fortified."

Anxiety sighed. "Not like that has ever helped keep Deceit out of here."

"Well, you are awake now, so we might as well try some techniques that could prevent him from coming in." The logical side concluded. "Virgil, I need you to lock the door." When the other side moved to go to the door, he put his hand on his shoulder. "Without moving."

"How can I do that?" He looked lost.

Roman climbed onto the bed. "It's easy! All it takes is a good amount of imagination-"

"No, no, no. It certainly does not. It takes a precise procedure in order to control elements of the mind without physical movement-"

"But what of the creative thoughts that allow us to conjure up-"

"It can all be done in an orderly fashion-"

Remy stomped his foot hard, causing Virgil to flinch violently. "Shut up for once in your lives! I'm hear, so why don't you just pay attention to me? Roman must have brought me here to do more than just wake you up to argue." He raised his glasses. "Didn't he?"

Roman blinked. "He's right. Scratch that plan, Virgil. We can work on that later. What we need is a plan, a plan to subdue Deceit." He pondered for a long while.

"A good place to start would be increasing Patton's strength and overall well-being." Logan interrupted. "As Deceit's counter, his strength would neutralize and effectively get rid of Deceit for now."

Patton looked stressed. "I'm not going to allow myself to get better without you guys! You guys have to get better too!" He hugged a teddy bear that Roman had brought him ferociously.

"And we will." Logic frowned through the breathing mask. "We all need to gain strength to be able to defeat our counters."

Virgil's head whipped around fast as he stared the other side in the eye.

The logical side noticed this. "I apologize, Virgil. I did not mean that I would try to get rid of you; I was talking more about Patton and Roman."

The anxious side seemed to accept this and relaxed a little bit, but he still remained mostly tense.

"Where is Roman's counter? I haven't seen him in....ever." Patton bit his lip.

Roman shrugged. "I have no idea who my own counter is."

The moral side wondered if that side was more like Virgil or Deceit. If they found him, would he join the family? "Then, let's focus on Deceit."

"Finally." Remy rolled his eyes. "You guys can talk for hours about nothing at all."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions make me happy!


	11. The Dark Sides

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil's got a plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuses

Patton eyed Logan's breathing mask with suspicious eyes. The logical side seemed to have momentarily discarded it during his argument with Roman, but didn't he still need it? Remy had only woken them up; there was no cure yet. The fatherly side picked up the plastic mask and put it back over Logan's face, interrupting his sentence.

"Patton? I was talking, Patton." Annoyance sparked through him.

The moral side hummed. "I want you to keep this on." Patton's voice was unusually serious. "Remy only woke us up. He didn't cure us of anything, so your lungs are still...broken." He finished his sentence as calm as he possible could.

Logan paused. "I see your logic, Patton."

He brightened. "Aw, thank you, Logan!" His smile took up most of his face.

Remy clicked his tongue. "Yeah, I don't think anyone in the mindscape but Deceit knows how to cure whatever the hell this is."

"It's a viru-"

"Shhh, sweetie." Sleep interrupted Logic. "I don't need to know that much." He sipped on his coffee.

Roman paused for a second, trying desperately to piece together the puzzle that was laid out before him. "Remy." He got the other's attention. "What do you actually represent?"

"Sleep." Remy raised an eyebrow.

Logan caught on to what Roman was trying to confirm. "You exist in Thomas's mind just as we do."

"Mmm-hmmm." He didn't seem to be paying attention.

"I don't know about you, Logan, but 'Sleep' doesn't seem like a trait that would be represented like we are." Roman paused. "Though Thomas does do it a lot."

The logical side brushed his host's unhealthy sleeping habits off for now. "That is besides the point. Remy, we have been trying to identify just who is Roman's counter as a side. For example, Virgil is mine, and Deceit is Patton's. Since there are three light sides and three dark sides-"

"Are you calling me a dark side?" Remy inquired, his nails clicking on the plastic of the Starbucks cup. "Cause if so, thank you for describing my soul in such an accurate way."

"I'm not calling you a dark side anymore than I am calling Virgil one." Logan responded, and Virgil looked up in alarm at hearing his name for he had been zoning off previously.

Patton gasped. "Oohhh, I get it now! Remy, whatever you represent must be Roman's counter!" He squealed. "That makes so much sense!"

Remy pursed his lips. "Does it now."

"I'm not too sure." Logan thought about it some more. "Deceit wants to regain power and control over Thomas for the dark sides, but neither of you guys seem particularly aligned with him."

Virgil snorted softly. "Yeah."

"Obviously," Remy answered. "Deceit likes to pretend he has more supporters than he does, and when he says 'all dark sides,' he's lying, you dimwit."

The logical side blinked for a few moments at the attack. "I see. That makes much more sense now." He tried not to attack the other side.

Roman looked his counter up and down suspiciously. "And what exactly do you represent? Sleep would not be my counter for I rule the realm of dreams."

"Not the realm of nightmares." Virgil snipped back.

"Shut up, you-you walking Hot Topic advertisement!" The creative side huffed.

"Now, kiddos. Let's all try to behave here." Patton frowned.

Remy rolled his eyes. "Fine, I actually represent Sloth, but I thought Sleep sounded a lot less shady and more comforting." There was a random twinkle in his eye. "Cause everyone loves sleep."

"Sloth." Roman pondered this for a few moments. "Yeah, that makes sense." He approved.

"Although, Virgil could have told you all that earlier." He winked at the other. "However, I do find it weird that there are five of us in one room, and the sixth is probably wrecking havoc outside."

Patton's eyes widened. "You're right! While we've been in here, we've been letting Deceit do whatever he pleases in the rest of the mindscape! He could have gone and talked to Thomas--perhaps posing as one of us again!" He groaned.

Logan's jaw tensed, and he almost removed the mask from his face again. "You're right. We should take care of this quickly or at least contact Thomas to mitigate the damage."

"There's already been some damage." Sleep drank some coffee. "Thomas was a complete wreck while you guys were out. I got in some extra hours with him."

"But he was supposed to see Joan and Talyn! Thomas promised them he would." Patton appeared to be distressed.

Remy winced. "Yeah, that didn't really happen."

The moral side appeared heartbroken. "What? Thomas didn't go?"

Virgil bit his lip and groaned. "Joan and Talyn are going to hate us forever. They're going to hate us forever." He hit his head on the wall behind him.

Patton knit his eyebrows together. "Let's not do that, kiddo." He lifted the anxious side's head from the wall."

Logan frowned. "I don't think they are going to hate us forever. Thomas made one mistake, and he can always tell them the truth later."

Morality agreed. "Yeah! And his friends would understand."

"They might not."

"That would not be in character for them." Logan argued.

"That's how they might act."

The logical side shook his head. "No, based on all facts we have about Joan and Talyn from the past, everything points to the fact that they would forgive Thomas eventually, especially if he was honest with them."

"Well, then, it's a shame Deceit is in charge because he's going to wreck Thomas's life until there is nothing left to recover." Virgil retaliated.

Roman interrupted. "Or we could go stop Deceit before it gets there."

"What if it is already there?"

"Jumping Jesus Jones, Hot Topic." He sighed.

Virgil paused for a breath and spoke again, significantly calmer this time. "We could always go to the subconscious."

"No!" Patton exclaimed. "Deceit would win!"

"Not permanently." He added on. "That's where Deceit typically hung out." Virgil bit his lip.

The moral side understood. "And that is why you left the subconscious?"

"Bingo."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Suggestions and comments make me happy!


	12. The Subconscious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sides have a plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Breathe four. Hold seven. Out eight. In, hold, out. Four, seven, eight. Four, seven, eight. 4, 7, 8.

**Look at what has happened. You failed to protect your family. They'll hate you forever and already do; they are only pretending to care about you.**

Virgil shook the deceitful thoughts out of his head. What had happened? All he could remember was talking to Deceit...then nothing. But something had definitely happened. Logan, Roman, Patton, Remy, all of them were talking about some sort of virus, and damn, did he hurt all over.

He guessed that he was the first infected with the virus, and then, it spread somehow to Logan and Patton. Guilt bit at him. If he had only been successful, maybe the two sides would be all right, healthy, but that was not the case.

One place in particular hurt quite a lot, and he couldn't imagine that it was from any illness. It felt more like if he had been brutally attacked, but he just couldn't remember if that was the case or not. Perhaps he should ask someone?

**Don't bother them. They don't care for you anyway. Don't whine over something that is probably nothing out of the ordinary.**

It really ached a lot though, and he was almost certain that there was some bandages across his body. Why were they there? He couldn't see any evidence of bandages on Patton although Logan sported some around his head. Had he fallen? Been hit? Was it Deceit? Did that mean Deceit gave him injuries as well?

He couldn't imagine the deceitful side doing anything related to his injuries. Was he merely hallucinating? High anxiety levels can cause hallucinations.

"Son, are you okay?" It was Patton. His face became clearer as he focused his vision.

"Yeah," he lied.

Remy rolled his eyes. "Liar, liar, hood on fire."

Logan's eyes sharpened as he spoke through his breathing mask. "Virgil hasn't been conscious for a while. He doesn't know about anything."

The anxious side made a face. He did know some things after all.

The light sides looked nervous. What was that about?

Patton spoke first. "Please just try not to lie to us. I know it is hard because of your anxiety, but it opens the door for Deceit to influence you."

Well, he definitely knew that. He had lived with Deceit and Remy for how long? 

"He knows that already." Remy saved him.

"Oh," Morality bit his lip hard. "Well, in that case, the virus you have caused some sort of complication called..." He hesitated.

"Splenic sequestration." Logan supplied.

The fatherly figure agreed. "That might cause you a bit of pain while we fix this." He looked nervous.

"You're anxious about something." Virgil didn't like it when the others were extremely anxious. It was his job to bear that burden.

"Yeah, I am. Can I...talk with you in private about something?"

Roman interjected. "What if one of you have a complication? Or both?"

"We'll get help." Patton assured. "I just think Virgil should learn about this without everyone hovering."

Anxiety knew that Patton was doing this out of his best interest. He always felt apprehensive around large groups.

Roman still looked worried.

"They can handle themselves, sweetheart." Remy sipped his coffee. "I don't know what happened, but I can guess it has to do with Deceit. They deserve privacy."

"I guess...." Roman helped Logan up. "We'll just be in the bathroom if you need anything. I want to change Logan's bandage." He gestured to the one around his head.

"That would be wise. Thank you." The logical side smiled a little.

Once the three had left, Virgil turned to Patton. "What's going on? You're really freaking me out."

"Sorry, kiddo, it is just difficult to say. Um...what was your life like with Deceit?"

"Not that great." His voice was flat.

"Did he ever hurt you?"

Virgil froze. What happened? He quickly nodded. "Er, yeah. Remy and I both."

Patton looked down morosely. "Deceit hurt you while you were unconscious. Hurt you bad."

"I guessed that much." Anxiety sighed.

"He...he hurt you in one of the worst ways."

His nervousness spiked. "What-what do you mean?"

"He-he attacked you. Sexually." Tears started sliding down the moral side's face rapidly.

He froze.

"I'm so, so sorry, kiddo." He sobbed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions make me happy!


	13. The Power Struggle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Subconscious v conscious minds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

"....What?" Virgil felt color flood his face as he bit his lip hard.

Patton felt tears coming to his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Virgil! I made myself vulnerable to Deceit in the nostalgia videos, so he was able to impersonate me and be discovered by Thomas! This never would have happened if I had came to you with my feelings."

Anxiety's mind was moving sluggishly. "No, no, I protect Thomas..."

"But I couldn't protect you." Tears dripped down Morality's cheek, and snot appeared within his nose.

"When did.....did Deceit do the...thing?" He kept on hesitating, biting back his own words.

How could he have been so weak? How long has it been? How is Thomas doing without his sides?

Why did Deceit do this to him? He had never violated his privacy this much before. It had usually been beating either with his fists or with the help of some tool. He rarely used knives or anything sharp enough to quickly draw blood; Virgil had always assumed that he steered clear of these because blood stains and trails would reveal his torment to the others.

So why did he do this to him? Was it because Thomas knew of his existence? Deceit would have much more power now. Or was it something Virgil did? What did he do wrong? It had been a while since Deceit had seen him, so was it just a matter of convenience? No, Deceit sought him out purposefully at a time he knew he wouldn't be caught in the act. It was premeditated. But why?

Was it just for power? To take away Thomas's main protector and turn Thomas to the dark side?

"...Kiddo?" It was Patton.

The anxious side noticed that his face was wet as well, contrasting his normally strong persona. He couldn't be weak or slack off; Thomas might get into trouble.

"Yeah, Patton?" Virgil moved to wipe his eyes with his hand, but the fatherly figure stopped him due to the IVs. Instead, the moral side wiped them away with the sleeve of his cardigan.

"Deceit will pay for all this." He said uncharacteristically seriously.

Virgil wanted nothing more. "Were you or Logan...you know..."

Patton shook his head. "No, I think he was more rushed with us since he was relying on a disguise, or maybe he wasn't planning on it."

Anxiety took several calming breaths. 4, 7, 8. In all honesty, he wasn't terribly surprised that Deceit had...corrupted him, used him so. He had always feared that the attacks would get worse and worse, but if he could protect his family, he would. He had to defend Thomas; he couldn't whine about his problems too much when his host is suffering.

"We should probably bring the others back in." Virgil paused. "I don't want to be separated when Deceit is out."

Patton looked concerned at his child's apparent nonchalance. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"All right." He stood up and made for the bathroom door.

Remy was sitting on a stool going through Virgil's make up bin. It was apparent that he had selected some of the anxious side's black and dark purple nail polish to wear as it was still wet. Logan sat on the side of the tub with his arms crossed and the breathing mask firmly secured on his face, and Roman stood next to him, neatly finishing up the new bandage.

"He's ready." Patton announced to them.

They all, even Remy, frankly looked stunned.

"Already?" Roman furrowed his brow.

Logan pursed his lips. Virgil must be burying his feelings deep down for now.

"To the subconscious?" The fanciful side suggested.

Logic agreed. "The subconscious mind is much more powerful than the conscious mind. What goes on their influences Thomas's thoughts and actions no matter how hard the conscious part works."

"So we must reclaim that part of the mind first to weaken Deceit." Roman helped the logical side walk to the bed. He was rather off balance due to the blow to the head.

"We'll need to check in on Thomas too." Virgil spoke up, his voice slightly strained. "After we reclaim that part too, of course." He hated the situation. What damage could Deceit have done? Were Thomas and his friends all okay?

"Hold on." Remy blew on his nails for a couple seconds before taking out some makeup. "Sweetums, you need to reapply that eye shadow of yours. Confidence 101." He brushed it onto Virgil's undereye, only stopping when Anxiety took it from him to do it himself.

Roman took out his sword. "Pops, you take this." He handed him a frying pan.

"What am I cooking?"

"Snake. If Deceit comes, brain him with it."

Patton wasn't usually one for violence, but it was necessary at this point. There wasn't a police station in the mindscape that they could report the abuses to. They had to deal with it themselves.

"Virgil, you can have-"

"I'm fine with my fists." He wrapped his knuckles in some bandages to get ready.

"You sure?"

"Yes."

Remy nodded in agreement. "Trust him, Roman."

"Logan, have this." Roman handed him a big textbook.

Logan looked at it for a second before shuffling through his vocabulary cards. "Is this what you call a....thicc boi?" He found the card and showed it to them.

"Sure." Roman moved on. "Remy? What do you want?"

Remy thought this through for a second. "Not my fists; I just did my nails. Could I just use stilettos?"

"Stilettos?" Virgil looked incredulous.

"Yup, I could go stomp-stomp on Deceit." Remy pointed out.

Before Logic could point out the illogic behind this, Roman responded. "You know what? Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me happy!


	14. Deceit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They begin to retake lost ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

Before leaving, Roman made sure to get Patton's, Logan's, and Virgil's vital signs, making sure that all of them were doing as okay as they can be at the moment. All three of them were running fevers, and their blood pressures were slightly elevated. The fanciful side, however, knew that they were finally retaking land from Deceit. It was as though it were D-Day, and they were storming the beaches at Normandy.

Walking out of Virgil's room, the group noticed that the lights even seemed go glow brighter in their presence. Roman wondered just how much Thomas had been corrupted by the deceitful side, and he had fed into Deceit's lies! Just because he told him what he wanted to hear....

"The easiest way to the subconscious is here." Anxiety pointed to a door that the three Light Sides had never thought to use before.

As Virgil went to open the door, Remy stopped him. "Let me open it, bae. We don't want someone to attack you or anything when you open it."

The anxious side stubbornly refused. "I think I'm okay with that, thanks. I'm literally Thomas's fight or flight instincts." He rolled his eyes, tired of being babied by the other sides.

"Let him open it." Roman encouraged, and Virgil did.

It was a stairwell, brightly lit at the top, but it got darker as it went deeper and deeper into the subconscious.

Logan adjusted his glasses. "We're going to need some flashlights," he said, summoning five of them and passing them out to the others.

Patton gripped his tightly, obviously feeling nervous and terrified about what they might find. Deceit could be anywhere!

"Lead us along, Marilyn Morose." Roman gestured to the staircase.

As they creeped their way down the darkening stairs, Remy looked to his old friend. "Where you thinking of going first?"

"I think I should walk right up to Deceit's room and punch him in the face. I want you all to stay a safe distance away." Virgil grit his teeth as the pain from his abdomen flaired up once more.

Logan frowned. "I do not think that is the best idea. We would have a better chance of defeating Deceit if we outnumbered him."

"Look," the anxious side paused. "I just don't want you guys to get hurt."

"That's so sweet of you, kiddo." Patton quelled the urge to squeal at his dark, strange son. "But we don't want you getting hurt either."

Remy's heels clicked on the floor as he walked alongside the group. "How about a couple of us storm Deceit's room and the others block the exits?"

"I don't know." Virgil scratched the back of his neck self-consciously. "What if Deceit is waiting for us to look for him in his room to ambush us?" He bit his lip.

Logan considered this. "That does seem possible, but since Deceit does not know when we would attempt this, it seems unlikely that he would hide out for that long. He would focus more of his energy on corrupting Thomas."

Everyone remained silent as they remembered how much their host must be suffering right now. Weakened morality? Weakened logic? Weakened anxiety? Strengthened deceit? It was a recipe for chaos.

Finally, the group made it to a door at the bottom of the stairwell. It looked old and rusted, and Roman just knew it was going to cream loudly when they opened it.

"Was this where you lived before you came up to us?" Patton was distressed by the conditions.

Virgil and Remy nodded in confirmation.

"This is where the dark sides are first created. We all started here." Remy pushed the door open. "First, I came, then Deceit, then Virgil."

"When was this?" The moral side asked out of curiosity regardless of the fact that Deceit could be watching them at that point in time.

"Oh, I've been here since Thomas was a baby, hon. Sloth is a pretty core trait for young ones, but you guys took over when he got old enough to have tons of energy. Deceit came when he told his first lie, and Virgil came around near puberty." Remy answered as they walked down an old, moldy hallway.

Soon enough, Virgil stopped at a door, most likely Deceit's. Steeling himself up, he brutally kicked the door near the lock; it slammed open.

The room looked just like the place where they did the videos, but here, it was covered in heat lamps, and a disturbing number of weapons lay presentable on a table. The room was noticeably lacking Deceit.

"I didn't know that Deceit was ectothermic, but I guess that does make sense given that he is a snake." Logan hummed to himself.

Roman walked over to the wall. "Can I have this?" He pointed to a poster for Pinocchio.

Virgil gave him an incredulous look. "I don't know! Ask him yourself."

"Well, he isn't here, Hot Topic!"

Suddenly, they heard a frightening laugh. "I'm not here." He said.

Anxiety felt like cursing. "What happened to our plan guys? We shouldn't all be in here!"

"Oh, sugar." Patton lifted his hand to meet his face. "Hey, Deceit, do you mind if we try that again? It's just that some of us were supposed to remain outside, and I don't know why I didn't. I just feel really weird right now."

"Fine." The snake-like side slammed his bedroom door. They heard several locks being put into place. "I'm definitely not going to go visit Thomas right now!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!


	15. Anxieties

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil has a moment

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing!

He was supposed to be Thomas's protector, so why did he let this happen? They had made a plan: some of them would enter the room and others would stay out in case of ambush. In practice, all of them entered for some reason, and he couldn't blame Deceit for taking advantage of their stupidity.

He should have been the one to stay outside. Hell, as paranoid as he was, he definitely should have at least noticed that no one was standing watch outside.

And there was no one to blame but himself; he had failed his one job. What was the point of anxiety if it didn't help when it was really needed?

Logan spoke up, still breathing through the mask. "Virgil, are you experiencing cognitive distortions? Your movements are becoming erratic."

"I'm not magnifying anything. I'm not ignoring the good." The anxious side bit back but immediately regretted his tone. "I'm just sitting here, wondering why the hell I didn't anticipate this and what I should have done to stop it?" He clutched his head for a second to ease the throbbing pain that started there.

"Using to many 'should' statements is another cognitive distortion. Do not focus on what you should have done; focus on what you did do and what situation we are in now."

"He's right, kiddo." Patton agreed, trying to remain calm.

Virgil sighed in frustration. "The facts of the matter are: we made a plan, we ditched the plan, we got our asses handed to us."

Remy eyed the door. "There was no way you could have expected him to lock us in here, hon. Deceit never locks his room."

"But I'm Anxiety! That's my entire purpose!" He grit his teeth hard.

"I'm not overly creative all the time." Roman mentioned. "Hell, we made a whole video on originality, so you can't be mad at yourself for not being anxious all the time."

Virgil hesitated for a second before suddenly cackling.

Thrown, Roman raised an eyebrow. "What's got you giggling, my Dark Prince?"

"I've reached such a level of anxiety that having no anxiety gives me anxiety."

Remy snorted. "Oof, sis. Big oof." He sipped some more of his never- ending drink.

Patton stood up and walked towards the door. "How do we get out of here?"

"I'm not sure how Deceit's locks work, but I guess we could start with this." He set down his Starbucks and took out a bobby pin.

Logan sat down on the stairs. "You know how to pick a lock?"

"Yes, but no, you aren't going to unlock my tragic backstory quite yet, sweetums."

Roman eagerly leaned forward to watch the dark side work on the door when he noticed an odd marking on Remy's cheek. "Did he hit you or something?"

"No, why?"

"The side of your face looks all green and yellow." The fanciful side looked up. "You guys have it too!"

Logan adjusted his glasses. "I can only assume that we are being corrupted by Deceit's room." He banished the thought of growing scales. It was becoming a reality.

Patton hesitated. "If we start lying, will he come back?"

"I don't know." Virgil responded. "Occasionally, he likes to point out lies, but sometimes, he just lets them slide."

"I would assume he would ignore them." Logan rubbed the side of his face slowly turning green and scaly.

Remy whined in annoyance. "This lock isn't working with my pin." He sat back. "Do any of you darlings like to give it a go?"

The logical side volunteered, hoping that his unemotional approach would be slightly more successful. He tinkered for a little while, but nothing happened. It was as though the lock was immune to it.

"That's it; we're going to be here forever." Virgil groaned.

"Nah," Remy offered him some of his coffee. "Want some?"

The anxious side shook his head. "I don't want you catching whatever we have." He gestured to himself, Logan, and Patton.

"True." The other man was quiet for a little bit. "Do you think Deceit is going to come back?" He hissed this part quietly.

Virgil stealthily nodded. "He's probably going to want to mock or attack us, and he'll have to restore his power sometime. We'll be ready by then." There was no way he was making another mistake.

"Virgie, I've never outright fought him before." Remy sounded scared.

"But you'll be great at stomping on his face." His eyes flickered down to the other man's stilettos.

"Big facts!" Remy laughed a bit. "Thanks, bud."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and suggestions are welcome and appreciated!

**Author's Note:**

> Comments make me happy, and suggestions are appreciated! :)


End file.
